In the late summer and fall of 1777, after two years of indecisive fighting on both sides, the outcome of the American War of Independence hung in the balance. Having successfully expelled the Americans from Canada in 1776, the British were determined to end the rebellion the following year and devised what they believed a war-winning strategy, sending General John Burgoyne south to rout the Americans and take Albany. When British forces captured Fort Ticonderoga with unexpected ease in July of 1777, it looked as if it was a matter of time before they would break the rebellion in the North. Less than three and a half months later, however, a combination of the Continental Army and Militia forces, commanded by Major General Horatio Gates and inspired by the heroics of Benedict Arnold, forced Burgoyne to surrender his entire army. The American victory stunned the world and changed the course of the war.
Kevin J. Weddle offers the most authoritative history of the Battle of Saratoga to date, explaining with verve and clarity why events unfolded the way they did. In the end, British plans were undone by a combination of distance, geography, logistics, and an underestimation of American leadership and fighting ability. Taking Ticonderoga had misled Burgoyne and his army into thinking victory was assured. Saratoga, which began as a British foraging expedition, turned into a rout. The outcome forced the British to rethink their strategy, inflamed public opinion in England against the war, boosted Patriot morale, and, perhaps most critical of all, led directly to the Franco-American alliance. Weddle unravels the web of contingencies and the play of personalities that ultimately led to what one American general called "the Compleat Victory."
Author(s): Kevin Weddle
Series: Pivotal Moments in American History
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 544
City: New York
Contents
List of Maps
Editors’ Note
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Fatal Ambition
1 Opening Moves
2 The First Invasion
3 A New British Strategy
4 A Question of American Command
5 Laying the Groundwork
6 The Fall of Fort Ticonderoga
7 Defeat, Retreat, Disgrace
8 Aftershocks
9 Burgoyne Moves South
10 The Ordeal of Philip Schuyler
11 The Murder of Jane McCrea
12 Not to Make a Ticonderoga of It
13 Oriskany and Relief
14 Cat and Mouse
15 Burgoyne’s Dilemma
16 Battle of Bennington
17 Gates Takes Command
18 The Battle of Freeman’s Farm
19 Sir Henry Clinton to the Rescue
20 The Battle of Bemis Heights
21 Retreat, Pursuit, and Surrender
22 British Strategic Reassessment
23 The Fruits of Victory
Conclusion Men and Measures
Appendix A What Became of Them?
Appendix B Chronology of the Saratoga Campaign, 1776–1778 (Including Key Dates from General Howe’s Philadelphia Campaign)
Appendix C Key British Letters/ Orders/ Meetings, 1776– 1777
Appendix D Orders of Battle
Notes on Maps
Notes
Bibliography
Index